


Across Time and Space

by ciitadel



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, As Above So Below au, Blind!Adrien, Disability AU, F/M, Multi, Pacific Rim AU, Parallel Universes, Time Loop, apocalypse au, canon!Marinette, genderbend au, god!plagg, god!tikki, kwami swap au, literally every au I wanna write, mari gets stuck in a ton of different universes, probably gonna be a lot more relationships, probably gonna be way more au's I'll tag later, totally not just an excuse to write a shit ton of au's
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-12 17:29:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7115449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ciitadel/pseuds/ciitadel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day when battling an akuma with unique powers, Chat isn't able to block the hit in time and Ladybug gets blasted. When she wakes up, she finds she is back in her room, and the date is that morning. But something isn't right. </p><p>According to Tikki, Marinette has been transported to a different universe that's parallel to her own in every single way except for one small difference. And she's stuck in a time loop. And she finds that she gets taken to a new alternate universe each day, and has to find out what's different than her own each time. The only hope for Marinette getting back to her rightful place is to wait until she lands in a universe where the same akuma shows up, and defeat her this time. But how long will that take? And if she keeps living the same day over and over, will Marinette even be able to remember what's true anymore?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Day Everything Changed

**Author's Note:**

> Basically poor canon Marinette is gonna be dealing with all the different au's this damn fandom has to offer
> 
> When I read a fic involving a time loop, I wondered what would happen if each day something was different than the original day, and thus this fic was born! 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy and leave suggestions for au's for me to make Marinette fall into down below! (although I already have several I am DEFINITELY doing)

Beyond our own universe, we humans don’t know what’s out there whatsoever. Some say it’s simply the End of existence, a sort of black void that not even the ever-present hand of Time can reach. Others believe that a utopian Heaven resides there, where you live out your eternal life in Paradise. 

But some have the notion that we aren’t the only universe out there, that we are only one of billions of trillions of infinite universes. 

Some of these universes are almost exactly identical to our own, with identical copies of ourselves going about our daily lives in the same fashion as you do. Some of these universes are extremely different, completely different worlds with different people and different rules. We have no way to reach these others universes, and most likely never will.

But who knows? It could be happening in a parallel universe.

~

The fateful day began as any other normal day in Marinette’s life, as all fateful, life-changing days do. Marinette woke up to find that her alarm had been inexplicably turned off, so she was fifteen minutes late to school. 

“Tikki! Why didn’t you wake me up!?” Marinette demanded in a panic. The small, pink kwami blinked groggily and let out a large yawn, before rising up off the pillow and giving her a reassuring smile.

“I’m sorry Marinette, but I was really tired, we’ve been fighting a lot of akuma’s lately, as you know.” The creature said in her high-pitched voice. 

“Yeah, I know, sorry, I should’ve double-checked my alarm.” Marinette said with a sigh. Leaping out of bed, the girl hastily threw on her clothes and practically ripped a brush through her tangled tresses before grabbing her purse and hauling it to school.

Bursting through the doors of her classroom, the room went dead silent as everyone stared at her. Marinette knew she must look like a mess, she had rushed out the door so quickly she wouldn’t be surprised if she realized she had put her pants on backwards. 

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, late again I see? Please, just take your seat.” Madame Bustier said in a resigned tone, clearly having just given up on expecting the girl to be on time. Marinette nodded sheepishly and plopped down besides Alya, who slyly passed her a granola bar beneath the table. Marinette gave her best friend a grateful smile, who nodded in return and turned back to typing rapidly on her phone. A new post for the Ladyblog most likely. 

“Whatcha doin’?” Marinette whispered in Alya’s ear, curiosity getting the better of her. “Ladyblog?”

“Fanfic.” Alya corrected with a smirk. Marinette frowned as she peered over the brunette’s shoulder at the screen, if that was fanfic why were the names Ladybug and Chat Noir in there-

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh no she didn’t.

“You’re reading Ladybug and Chat Noir fanfic?!” Marinette whisper-screamed. “Why does that even exist?!” Alya chuckled softly and gave her best friend a shit-eating grin.

“Because we all ship Ladynoir of course!” Alya whispered back. Marinette furrowed her brows and gave Alya a confused look. 

“Ladynoir?”

“Yeah! That’s Ladybug and Chat Noir’s ship name! Pretty clever ri-”

“Alya and Marinette, can you please refrain from speaking while I’m lecturing?” Madame Bustier said, interrupting the girls. Marinette flushed and scooted her butt back where it belonged on the bench, and gave Alya an apologetic glance. 

Marinette spent the rest of the class period attempting to pay attention, but continuing to zone out while staring at the back of Adrien’s perfectly coiffed hair. After what seemed like an eternity to the dark-haired girl, the bell rang and the students leapt out of their seats, ready to go to lunch. As Marinette packed her things, Nino turned around and began talking to Alya about some new food place that had just opened.

“This place has got the BEST frozen yogurt, I swear on my life.” Nino said enthusiastically. 

“Well, if it’s so good, why don’t we go there for lunch today?” Alya suggested. Nino lit up at this idea. 

“Yeah, that’s a great idea! Yo Adrien, wanna get froyo with us?” Nino asked, turning to the blonde. Adrien had been focused on putting away his books, so he glanced at the DJ with surprise.

“Huh? Froyo? For lunch? Doesn’t sound that filling.” Adrien commented. 

“Bruh. It’s froyo and it’s delicious, are you even a teenager? Come on just come with us to this place, I promise it’s really good! Mari’s coming too, right Mari?” Nino said, turning the attention on the dark-haired girl. Adrien turned to look at her, and she felt the nerves rise up as they always did when his green eyes turned onto her. 

“Um, me? Um, yeah, definitely, I, like, love froyo, totally!” Marinette managed to stammer out, her face turning beet red. Adrien grinned at that, and turned back to Nino.

“Well, okay then, I guess I’ll see if Nathalie will let me.” He said worriedly. He began to rapidly text someone on his phone, and Marinette wondered for the billionth time just how strict his father was. After a moment, Adrien’s face lit up like the sun, and Marinette internally melted at his smile. 

“She says I can go!” He quipped. 

“Great! Let’s go then!” Alya declared. Everyone got up, left the classroom, and soon enough were strolling down the streets of Paris as a group. The frozen yogurt shop was not far from the school, thankfully, and they arrived there within minutes. 

Clambering inside, the children all went for the sample cups and began to taste their options. Marinette moaned to herself as the pure bliss of cold mango dairy product hit her tongue. Glancing over at her crush, Marinette saw that Adrien seemed to be in heaven as he tasted a chocolate flavored yogurt. She giggled and made a mental note to bring that boy chocolate if she ever got the chance. After a few minutes of testing, the kids all chose their flavors and filled up the containers with the sweet, frosty, yogurt. When they were onto the toppings, Marinette chose a mixture of fruits and nuts, Alya just had some chocolate chips and nuts, while Nino and Adrien loaded up so many toppings Marinette began to wonder if she’d need to perform CPR in case one of them had a heart attack. 

They paid for their meals and sat down at a booth to enjoy their feasts. Somehow, Alya and Nino had ended up on one side with Marinette and Adrien on the other, and she was trying to keep the blush on her neck from rising up towards her face at their close proximity. The group began to eat their treats with fervor, everyone moaning in unison at the deliciousness of the sweets. 

“Oh god, Nino, this was the best idea you’ve ever had.” Alya said. 

“I’m never doubting you again bro.” Adrien chimed in. Nino crossed his arms and put a self-satisfied grin on his face. 

“Yep, that’s right! Never doubt the awesome powers of Nino! Everyone else pales in comparison!” He said dramatically. 

“Except for Ladybug.” Alya pointed out. 

“Except for Ladybug.” Nino agreed, knowing it was a deadly decision to disagree with the blogger about her favorite superhero. 

“And Chat Noir!” Marinette added in, disliking the exclusion her partner garnered when praise was being given. Adrien gave her a surprised look, and then smiled brightly. 

“Fine. Except for Ladybug and Chat Noir.” Nino concluded. “But I bet I could kick that cat’s ass.” He said with a smirk. Adrien let out a snort before quickly composing himself. Marinette gave him a confused glance, but quickly brushed it off. 

“What about Ladybug? Could you kick her ass?” Marinette asked.

“Oh hell no, she’d kick my ass from here to America.” Nino said with wide eyes. Marinette held back a laugh, knowing it was true. 

“She could kick my ass any day.” Alya chimed in. 

“Mine too!” Adrien agreed. 

“I feel like it would be a privilege to have Ladybug kick your ass.” Alya declared. 

“She should charge. Come on up ladies and gent’s, get an ass kicking from Ladybug for only ten euros!” Nino said in an announcer’s voice. Marinette was having a difficult time controlling her laughter now, continuing to think, ‘oh, if only they knew.’

“So, Alya, who’s your latest Ladybug suspect this time?” Adrien inquired casually, making Marinette snap to attention. Alya bit her lip as she pondered this.

“Well, lately I’ve been gathering little bits of evidence about our superheroes and their powers in general, rather than their identities, just for the moment. Like, I know that the akumatized villains are all assigned one job by Hawkmoth: to grab Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous. I’ve been wondering what exactly a Miraculous is, and from what I’ve gathered it’s special jewelry that somehow contains the magic that turn our superheroes into who they are, so Ladybug has her earrings and Chat Noir has his ring.” At this, Adrien slyly took his left hand off the table, setting it on his lap. No one noticed the subtle movement though.

“But the question is, who gave them these Miraculouses? Were they passed down from family members or were they an outside source? I’ve already determined that Ladybug and Chat Noir don’t know each other’s identities outside the mask-”

“Whoah how do you know that?” Marinette interjected.

“I once overheard a conversation where Chat was asking Ladybug to tell him her identity.” Alya said matter-of-factly. “She refused.” 

“How do you know she hasn’t told him since then?” Marinette asked, trying to get her friend off her perilously accurate investigation. 

“Because I heard this last night.” Marinette gaped at the brunette before remembering that after defeating the akuma the night prior (hence why she had woken up late), Chat had made a teasing inquiry to her identity and she rejected him in the casual manner she always did. Thinking back, Marinette realized how her friend might’ve been able to eavesdrop, as they were on a street rather than the rooftops they usually frequented. 

“So you just casually eavesdrop on Paris’s saviors?” Nino asked. 

“Yep!” Alya responded proudly. “In fact-” She was cut off by a piercing scream, and suddenly a large crash made the whole ground shake. 

“Ah shit, not again.” Alya complained. 

“Come on, guys we gotta go!” Adrien said, grabbing Marinette’s arm as he jumped up. Alya and Nino scrambled out of the booth, and the four of them ran outside the shop and away from all the glass windows in it. Once out, Marinette looked behind to see what appeared to be a floating person with white hair and glowing, golden eyes who was wearing flowing robes with a breathtaking galaxy print. Marinette stumbled and gaped at the god-like figure, who wielded a tall, silver scepter that had what appeared to be an hourglass on the top. Beams of light shot from the weapon, and where they hit people, they instantly vanished.

“Marinette, we gotta go, now!” Adrien said, grabbing her arm again and dragging the girl along. Together they all ran towards the nearest secure looking building, and Adrien shoved them all in. 

“Aren’t you getting in also?!” Nino demanded when the blonde began to run away.

“There’s still people I gotta help get to safety!” He insisted before rushing away. Marinette’s eyes widened, he could get hurt! Marinette knew that even if she hadn’t been Ladybug and needed to find somewhere to transform, she would’ve gone after him to ensure his own safety. 

“Whoa, where do you think you’re going?!” Alya yelled when Marinette tried to shove her way out the door, grabbing her arm like a vice. 

“Alya, I gotta help the others also.” She demanded, trying to worm her way out of her best friend’s grip. 

“No, you’re staying here.” Alya affirmed. 

“Alya, please… I don’t want him to get hurt.” Marinette pleaded, letting the terror show in her eyes. Alya glared at her for a moment longer, the two stubborn girls staring one another down, before the brunette relented and released the death grip she held on Marinette’s arm with a sigh. 

“Go, before I regret my decision.” She said, not looking at her. 

“Thank you Alya!” Marinette said, turning away. 

“Stay safe!” Alya said as she ran towards the doors. And with that, Marinette was outside and surrounded by screaming people. Voices and colors blurred past her as civilians panicked, and Marinette desperately looked around for a place to transform. She spotted a dark alley and darted in, and opened her bag for Tikki to come out. 

“Again?” Tikki complained, her voice still sounding tired. Marinette knew the poor kwami was overworked, but she had no choice. 

“I’m sorry Tikki, this one seems intense.” The kwami sighed before nodding in permission.

“Tikki! Transform me!” She yelled. Marinette felt the familiar rush of energy and joy envelope her as she was bathed in a bright pink light. Within seconds she was wearing the familiar red spandex costume of Ladybug, and she ran out of the alley to face the new villain. 

Using her yoyo, Ladybug flew up to a nearby rooftop so she could get a better look at the akuma. She did indeed have a silver scepter with an hourglass on top, the woman’s short hair was pure white and her eyes glowed with an ethereal light. Her robes shifted, the galaxies printed on them actually moving within the fabric. The woman laughed with each person she made disappear, but oddly the laughter didn’t sound evil. Rather, it just seemed joyful and content. Then, the woman turned and stared directly at Marinette.

“Oh, Ladybug, how nice of you to stop by. I’ve been waiting for you to show up, and, well, you know how this goes. I need your Miraculous, unless you want to end up like the rest of the poor souls who I’ve already transferred.” The woman said pleasantly. 

“Transferred? What do you me-” She was interrupted by the weight of a hand on her shoulder, and Ladybug yelped and whipped around to see Chat Noir standing behind her with a wide grin. 

“For god’s sake, kitty, don’t scare me like that!” She reprimanded him. 

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you! So, who are we dealing with today?” Chat said, an apologetic look on his face as he turned to face the akuma. 

“Ah, so I see we have Chat Noir here as well, perfect. Well I might as well introduce myself, I am Miss Universe.” 

“Like the beauty pageant?” Chat asked. Miss Universe hissed at that, her glowing eyes growing even brighter. 

“No, not like the beauty pageant! Like a god of the Universe!” She yelled, her voice growing ten times louder. Ladybug and Chat Noir shrank back at her anger; she was rather terrifying. Then she took a deep breath and returned to normal. “Give me your Miraculouses and I won’t transfer you.” 

“Dunno what transfer means, but we’re not gonna give you our Miraculouses, sorry!” Chat said with a shrug. 

“Well, if you want to play it that way…” Miss Universe began her assault on the two heroes, and they had to leap from roof to roof, barely avoiding the beams of light that shot from her scepter. After a few seconds though, she ceased fire and Ladybug looked back to see a pink butterfly halo surrounding Ms. Universe’s face. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, and she was speaking to whom Ladybug presumed to be Hawkmoth. 

“Come on Chat!” She shouted to her partner, pointing at the currently distracted villain. She figured out that the akuma must’ve been in her scepter, so she aimed her yoyo to grab the weapon. “Go distract her!” She told Chat, who nodded and ran over to the villain. The pink halo disappeared and Chat began to yell insults at the akuma about the beauty pageant, causing Ladybug to giggle slightly. 

“Enough! I am NOT a beauty pageant queen you insufferable cat!” She yelled, pointing her scepter in his direction. “I don’t care if your Miraculous disappears with you, I am sending you to another universe where you can’t bother me!” Ladybug took this opportunity and shot her yoyo out, and it wrapped around the scepter several times. Ladybug yanked right as the beam of light shot out, causing it to curve at just the right trajectory to where it redirected…

Towards her.

Time moved in slow motion as Marinette saw the beam fly towards her, and she instantly knew she wouldn’t be able to move out of the way in time. She heard Chat’s yell and saw Miss Universe’s face crumble into horror as she saw what she had done, and Ladybug distantly knew that Hawkmoth was not going to be happy about losing the creation Miraculous. Marinette had no idea what was going to happen, just that she would be transferred somewhere, but she just hoped she’d have Tikki with her so she could make it right. 

The last thing Ladybug saw was Chat’s horror-filled face at having failed his duty, before a burst of energy smacked into her and everything went dark.


	2. Buns instead of Pigtails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette finds out what that akuma really did to her (and gets a cute new hairstyle as well)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want Marinette to have two buns is that too much to ask?!?! 
> 
> Also special thanks to my lovely beta Jewel who proofread this at like 3 am her time (I promise I'll work on adding more commas)

Marinette’s alarm blared as she slowly rose out of consciousness, her limbs feeling heavy like lead. Soft sunlight filtered through her window, and blearily she opened her eyes to find she was in bed. Yawning, she turned off the incessant beeping and sat up, rubbing at her eyes as she tried to recall the crazy dream she’d had. 

“Morning Tikki.” Marinette mumbled, stretching her limbs and hearing a satisfying crack. “I had the craziest dream last night. Some akuma could, like, transport people to other universe’s I think.” She opened her eyes again to see the pink kwami staring at her worriedly. 

“What’s wrong Tikki?” She asked. 

“Marinette… do you feel okay?” Tikki inquired, her tone serious. Marinette frowned at her, puzzled, before realizing that yes something did indeed feel off. Not something she could name, but something about, well, everything.

“I mean I guess. I have a weird feeling though, like something’s different. Is something going on?” Tikki sighed. 

“Oh no, I was afraid of this. Marinette… that akuma, I don’t think it was a dream.” Tikki said hesitantly, her blue eyes filled with apprehension. 

“What do you mean ‘not a dream’? I’m still in the same universe… right?” Marinette began looking around her room suspiciously, her heart beginning to race. “I mean I’m still Marinette, I’m still Ladybug clearly or else you wouldn’t be here, and I still live in Paris. Nothing’s different!” She was breathing quickly now, because realizing that you were not in the correct universe was a rather frightening and panic-inducing thing. 

“Marinette, there is an infinite amount of universes almost completely parallel to our own. There are entire universes that are exactly identical to each other, with only one extremely tiny difference. A detail can be so small, it can just be someone’s haircut!” 

“Well how do you know I’m from a different universe than this if everything’s the same?!” Marinette asked, her voice turning shrill. 

“Mari, I’m a God remember? I know things, and one of them is that you are not in the correct universe.” Tikki said calmly, again reminding Marinette of the shocking truth that her small and adorable companion was a thousands year old deity. 

“Then what’s different about this one? And how do I get back to my own universe?” Marinette asked, her panic still rising as she thought about all the possibilities. 

“I only know what’s true in this universe so I don’t know what’s different in yours, because you technically have a different Tikki than me. And I also have no idea how you’re supposed to get back to your correct universe. My guess would be to see if the akuma comes back, defeat them, and then hope the Miraculous Cure brings you back.” Tikki told her. Marinette stared at her with giant blue eyes, the terror still present. 

“What if she doesn’t come back?! What happens if I’m trapped here!?” Tikki patted her ward’s cheek affectionately, trying to calm the frightened girl. 

“I don’t think anything will happen, besides a possible collapse in time itself but that’s very unlikely and we couldn’t do anything to prevent that. You’ll just have to accept and deal with whatever the difference is.” 

“What happens if time itself collapses?” Marinette asked in a horror-filled whisper. 

“Honestly? I don’t know, it hasn’t happened before, at least to my knowledge, but then again I’d have no idea if it did or didn’t. It could restart the universe, it could create a whole new universe, or it could destroy sentience as we know it.” Marinette began to gasp for breath again at that, and the kwami comforted her. 

“Don’t worry though, that won’t happen and even if it did it’s not like you would know. So just forget I said that, and let’s focus on the difference from this universe to yours.” Tikki said confidently. Marinette took several more deep breaths before giving her kwami a grateful look. 

“Well… what’s the date?” 

“26th of April!” Tikki quipped. 

“Oh, so it’s the day that the akuma attack happened. Maybe that means she’ll show up again!” Marinette’s eyes lit up with hope. 

“That’s great, just make sure you’re ready. Now, who are you Mari in your universe?” 

“Well…” Marinette bit her lip as she thought. “I’m 9th grader Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng are my parent’s who own the bakery. I’m a student but I’m also the superhero Ladybug who transforms with the power of my Miraculous earrings, and as Ladybug I team up with Chat Noir and we defeat super villains that are akumatized by a man named Hawkmoth. My best friend is Alya Cesaire, I have a crush on the supermodel Adrien Agreste, and I hate Chloe Bourgeois. Is that all the same?” Tikki nodded. 

“Yep all normal! Um… is Nino Adrien’s best friend?” Marinette nodded. “Um… Sabrina is best friends with Chloe, Mylene and Ivan are together…” Tikki gasped as an idea came to her. “What about your appearance? Appearance’s can change!” 

“I um… have blue eyes, I have black hair that’s almost blue that I tie into pigtails-”

“There it is!” Tikki interrupted triumphantly. “You don’t tie your hair into pigtails, you put it into two buns on top of your head!” Marinette reached up to her hair, and sure enough two buns sat atop her head like cinnamon rolls. 

“So there’s only one difference between these alternate universe’s?” Marinette asked, climbing out of bed to go look at herself in the mirror. 

“No, there can be loads. But it seems like nothing major is out of place in this one, so I don’t think anything else will be really noticeable.” Tikki said, floating besides her. Marinette got to the mirror and gazed at herself. She looked exactly the same, she was even wearing the same pajamas, just her hair was styled into two messy buns on her head, almost like a mouse’s ears. In fact, it was actually quite a cute look, and Marinette noted that she would have to try it if she ever got back to her rightful universe. 

“Wait… If I’m in this universe… what happened to the other Marinette?” Marinette inquired, the thought disturbing her. Tikki gasped and her already gigantic eyes widened even further.

“Oh no! She’s probably been transferred to either your universe or a different universe! Or-or maybe she’s been erased from existence!” Tikki sighed and collapsed onto the vanity. “But… there’s nothing we can do about it now I guess. Just hope that she comes back when you fix this. I hope she’s okay.” Marinette’s heart went out to her kwami.

“I’m sure she’s fine. Since she’s, well, me then I’m positive she’ll be trying to get back to her own rightful place as well and is probably doing just fine with your assistance.” Marinette reassured her. Tikki gazed up at the girl and sighed.

“Thanks, that helps a little Mari, now come on, you have to get dressed or else you’ll be late for school.” Tikki said, reprimanding her. Marinette nodded and pulled on her clothing (which was still the same as well), and rushed downstairs. Her mother greeted her with a smile and handed her a croissant as she rushed out the door, and Marinette stuffed her face as she ran towards the school. 

She made it there just in time (unlike last time), and sat down next to Alya right as the bell rung. The lecture was exactly the same much to Marinette’s dual joy and dismay, so she doodled in her notebook to pass the time while occasionally glancing at Alya to see that she was enjoying the same fanfic as before. 

The bell rang and students went to get up, and Marinette’s heart began to race as she waited for Nino to suggest the frozen yogurt shop. Sure enough, he turned around to Alya and began gushing about it, and this time Marinette lent her support.

“Froyo sounds really good right now actually.” She chimed in. Nino gave her a huge smile and Alya sighed. 

“Fine, I’ll get froyo. Yo Agreste!” Adrien turned around, eyes wide. “You coming to get frozen yogurt with us or not?” 

“Um yeah I’d love to, let me just ask Nathalie first if I can.” His fingers flew across the keyboard at a rapid pace, and Marinette watched with bated breath to see if the result would still be the same as the last time she had experienced this. Adrien’s face lit up with a smile, and Marinette breathed a sigh of relief that everything seemed to be going in the same direction. 

“Yeah I can go, although froyo doesn’t sound like a very filling lunch.” Adrien said, biting his lip and looking down. 

“Oh come on, live a little Mr. Serious and be a teenager!” Alya teased him. 

“Okay okay fine, and I am NOT Mr. Serious.” Adrien said in his defense. 

“Whatever Mr. Model, come on let’s go.” Everyone got up and went down to the yogurt place as usual. The sky was bright blue and everyone still seemed as cheerful as they had before. Marinette marveled at how different universes could be running in exactly the same circles, multiple copies of people going about their daily lives but forever separated by time and space. To think that there were an infinite amount of Marinette’s most likely chasing after an infinite amount of Adrien’s baffled her. She hoped her parallel universe’s selves were happy. 

They arrived at the yogurt shop and the group eagerly went for the samples again, and this time Marinette chose a different flavor this time, opting for an equally delicious strawberry with a similar mixture of fruit and nuts. Adrien still got the chocolate heart attack inducing concoction, Nino got the same caramel swirl mix, and Alya got the same lemon raspberry swirl with chocolate chips. So far, it seemed that none of her own decisions had influenced her friends, the knowledge that she had gone through this day before not making any difference into what happened. 

Only this time she would get back to her rightful place. 

As they ate their treats, Marinette ignored most of the conversation in favor of staring out the window, hoping to spot Miss Universe as quick as possible. She was so intent on watching for the akuma, that she didn’t even hear Adrien calling her name several times.

“Marinette? Marinette? Hello?” She turned around and blushed fiercely when she saw he was staring at her. Her mind began to race with panicked thoughts like ‘Oh no now she was going to think she was rude and didn’t listen to him and that she was stupid and he would never like her and-’

Wait.

This was an alternate universe, she wasn’t going to be here for long. Whatever she did here didn’t affect her, as this was only temporary. Adrien might think this universe’s Marinette zoned out a lot, but not her. She was okay, her crush wasn’t ruined.

“Oh um, sorry I was um, zoning out!” She stammered. Adrien smiled and laughed. 

“It’s fine, you must’ve been really concentrated on whatever you were thinking about. We were talking about Ladybug and you didn’t notice.” Were they having the same conversation about Ladybug kicking their asses? 

“What were you guys talking about with Ladybug?” She asked. 

“Just about how she could kick all our asses.” Nino said casually. “Though actually, now that I think about it, you can be pretty terrifying when you’re angry. I think you might actually have a chance against her.” Marinette snorted.

“Me? Against a superhero? I may be able to kick your ass from here to America but I don’t think I could win against Ladybug.” Marinette said, her mouth twisted in a smirk for the secrets she knew. 

“You could probably kick Chat Noir’s ass though.” Alya commented. 

“Hmm, maybe. I don’t think so, since he’s got like the whole superpower thing going on like Ladybug.” Marinette said, continuing to glance out the window every few seconds. 

“I dunno Mari, you’re pretty tough. If you went up against him and I was Chat Noir, I’d be pretty scared.” Adrien said with a laugh. The rest of lunch continued that way, the group debating whose ass Marinette could kick. As time passed Marinette grew increasingly worried, why wasn’t Miss Universe showing up? Eventually, the kids saw that lunch was over and collected their things, moving out of the booth with relative calm in comparison to the panic that had occurred before. 

As they strolled down the sidewalk, pedestrians passed by with ease. No one was running, no one was screaming, and nothing was crashing. 

There was no akuma in sight. 

Marinette began internally freaking out once they arrived back at the school without a hitch, and spent the entire rest of the day with her eyes trained on the window, searching for even one scream. Alya continued to give her questioning looks, which she pointedly ignored, until eventually class ended and the school day was done. Marinette rushed out of class once the bell rang, giving Alya a half-assed excuse about helping her parent’s at the bakery. Truthfully, she wanted to be ready in case the akuma appeared, which she was now beginning to believe was less and less likely by the hour. 

She arrived home, gave her mother and father a kiss on the cheek as usual, and climbed upstairs to her room. Once inside, Marinette plopped onto her bed with a groan, and Tikki floated out of the bag, hovering over the girl with a worried expression. 

“Why didn’t the akuma appear!? She was supposed to be what sent me back to my own universe!” She asked, covering her face with her hands as she contemplated the possible end of time itself. 

“I don’t know Marinette, this has never happened to a Ladybug before. I mean, traveling between universes is pretty extreme.” Tikki sighed and laid down next to Marinette on the bed. 

“So I just… wait?”

“It seems that way.” So that’s what she did. Every couple minutes Marinette would refresh the news page and the Ladyblog to see if any akuma attacks were occurring, but none appeared. Out of sheer boredom she searched up if her Ladybug self also had the double buns she sported at school, and saw that she most certainly did. Marinette had to admit, Ladybug looked even better with the buns than the pigtails, and she began considering permanently changing her look once she got back to her rightful universe. 

Soon enough night fell and Marinette had dinner with her parents, checking her phone underneath the table constantly. Her parents were observant though, and noticed her worry. 

“Marinette is everything okay? You seem distracted today.” Her father asked kindly. 

“Oh, um, of course Papa everything’s fine!” Marinette said in as cheerful a voice as she could muster. 

“Are you sure? You know you can talk to us about anything.” She bit her lip, knowing she very well couldn’t do that. Somehow, ‘Oh yeah actually I’m your daughter from an alternate universe and I’m trying to wait for the akuma that caused this to show up to get me back to my own universe so time itself doesn’t fall apart,’ didn’t sound very believable. 

“I know I can, thank you Papa.” Marinette replied with a smile. She laid off on checking her phone for the rest of dinner, and kissed her parent’s goodnight and walked back upstairs to her bedroom. 

For the rest of the night, Marinette waited by her laptop for any news at all regarding the akuma. Eventually though, somewhere around 1 am, Marinette’s eyelids were too heavy to remain open, so reluctantly she drifted into dreams.  
~  
BEEP BEEP!

The loud blaring of Marinette’s alarm cut through her wall of unconsciousness like a hot knife through butter. Groaning, she opened her bleary eyes and sat up as her brain went through the previous days events. She gasped as she remembered her predicament, and immediately she grabbed her phone and began scrolling to see if there was news of an akuma attack. There had been none. Rather, what caught her attention was the date at the top of the phone. 

26/4/2016

Wasn’t yesterday the 26th of April? 

“Tikki?” Marinette said, wondering where her kwami was. She heard a rustling beside her, and the pink, bug-like creature groggily sat up and stared at her a moment, before gasping and perking up. 

“Oh no! Marinette! Are-are you feeling okay?!” 

“Yeah Tikki, I feel fine. Well I mean besides the fact that I’m stuck in an alternate universe to my own and that the date on my phone is the same as yesterday’s date.” Tikki gasped again.

“You know you’re in an alternate universe?!” Marinette gave the kwami a confused look. 

“Yeah I do, you told me this yesterday remember?” Tikki gazed at her for a moment, confusion spreading through her blue eyes. 

“No, I didn’t… wait did you say that the date is the same as yesterday?” 

“Yeahhhh?” Marinette said, nodding her head slowly. “What’s going on with you Tikki?” Tikki just continued to stare at the girl, before flying away and muttering things to herself. 

“Hey wait tell me what’s going on? I mean it can’t get much weirder than being stuck in a different universe right?” Tikki ignored her, continuing to zip around the room while talking to herself. Marinette gave up trying to talk to the kwami, instead electing to wait. After a few minutes, Tikki took a deep breath and flew back to her. 

“Okay, tell me, how did you get stuck in an alternate universe?” 

“Um there was an akuma that said she could move people to other universe’s and I got hit with one of her blasts?” Marinette said, her befuddlement clear in her tone. 

“And yesterday you were stuck in an alternate universe? Where the date was the same as today?” 

“Yes Tikki we went over this, do you have amnesia or something?” 

“What was different in that alternate universe? What was different than your universe?” 

“I normally wear my hair in pigtails and in that universe I wore it in two messy buns on top of my head. Seriously do I need to take you to see that healer again?” 

“No Mari I’m fine, I just think that akuma blast did a lot more than just move you to another universe.” The words sent a blast of fear through her heart. What more could it have done? How powerful was that akuma?

“What else did it do?” She asked hesitantly. Tikki took a deep breath. 

“I think that akuma did two things. One, you’re in a time loop for the 26th of April.” 

“Oh great, now I get to hear that lecture on electrons over and over again until that damn akuma shows up.” Marinette groaned. “What’s the second?” Tikki looked hesitant to answer.

“I think you get moved to a different universe every time the day loops, because... you don’t wear your hair in double buns.” Marinette’s eyes widened as a gasp escaped her lips. She leapt off her bed and rushed to the vanity, desperate to see what was different. 

Instead of pigtailed Marinette or double bun Marinette, standing in front of her, was Marinette with a pixie cut. But that wasn’t the only difference. Marinette’s eyes were no longer their familiar shade of blue bell blue, rather a pair of eyes the same shade of grey as her mother’s stared from her face. 

So this was her fate? To repeat the same day over and over but with tiny differences to her world each time? 

Marinette had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw Tikki knows everything because she is indeed a quantic god as described by the creator of the show, Thomas Astruc himself 
> 
> Message me on Tumblr: themiraculoustrashcan.tumblr.com
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment if you enjoyed, and/or have a suggestion for an au for Marinette to go to next! Thanks! <3


	3. Kwami Swap AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette awakes into day three of her universe hopping to find that she's no longer Ladybug...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!! Sorry this took long, I'm actually currently on vacation and the wifi is very sporadic in its effectiveness (I'm on a cruise ship so that's why) so I haven't had the chance to work on it a ton. Also I was working on some other AU's for this and getting a head start on them, and I think the next chapter should be out sooner than this one was! I hope you guys enjoy!!!

Short-haired Marinette’s day passed by exactly the same as her double-bun day had. She was almost late to school, she didn’t pay attention during class, she went to get frozen yogurt with her friends for lunch…

And no akuma appeared.

That night as Marinette was lying on her bed, running her fingers through the unfamiliar short hair, she again bemoaned her current situation. Would each day just be the same thing where the only difference was her haircut or eye color? How many haircuts would she have to go through till the akuma showed up? What if she had a really bad haircut one day? 

“Tikki, this is gonna be really boring if the same thing just keeps happening over and over.” She moaned. 

“Well keep in mind, that the difference might not always be so subtle. You do know that any one of these days you could be transported to a universe where I’m not there to help you, right? You have to be prepared for that, I’m glad that you’ve been able to get used to the idea with only subtle changes so far.” Tikki said, her sage-like wisdom radiating outwards. 

“I guess you’re right. I just want to get back to a place where everything makes sense.” Marinette complained. Tikki flew over and patted her head comfortingly.

“I know, I'm sure you'll find a way out of this soon.” She reassured the girl. Marinette tried to stay awake the rest of the night, looking for any sign of an akuma attack, but her kids grew extremely heavy and before she knew it she was passed out cold. 

~  
Marinette groaned as she awoke, the bright sunlight painful to her closed eyelids as she rose into wakefulness. Blearily, she sat up and blinked her eyes open, and immediately her hands went to her hair.

With a relieved sigh, she felt her pigtails securely fastened on either side of her head. 

But then she stiffened when she realized there was a bigger change in the universe then. 

“Tikki?” Marinette called out. “You there?” As she looked around the room for her Kwami, her face fell upon a different tiny form than she was used to. It still looked like a Kwami, but it appeared to be a black cat-like creature. As Marinette spoke, the creature yawned and lifted its head, waking up to reveal large green eyes with slitted pupils.

“Who are you?!” Marinette shrieked, startled by the unfamiliar presence. The cat stared at her blankly, before floating up and facing her.

“Marinette? What's wrong, it's Plagg, your Kwami?” The thing said in a distinctly male voice. 

“W-where's Tikki?!” Marinette stuttered out. The cat gazed at her for a moment before his eyes widened and he let out a barking laugh.

“Ohhhhhhh you're from a different universe aren't you? One where you're Ladybug I'm guessing?” Plagg said with a smirk. 

“I-I'm not Ladybug?” She squeaked. Plagg continued to laugh and Marinette looked the black cat over, and put the pieces together in her head. 

“Oh god! I'm Chat Noir?!” She said with wide eyes. 

“Yep! And you're pretty good at it too! Like I said earlier, I'm Plagg, your Kwami. And I loovveeee Camembert!” He said in a sing-song voice. 

“Then who’s Ladybug?” Marinette inquired.

“I dunno, I mean I do know but you two haven't revealed your identities yet so you don't want me to tell you. He’s said multiple times he'd be cool with it, you're the only one that's hesitant.” Plagg explained. Well, at least that remained the same. Suddenly, a thought struck Marinette.

“Wait. If I'm Chat then does that mean I flirt with Ladybug constantly?” She asked. “Oh. Oh no. Please say I don't tell puns.” She said with wide, horror-filled eyes. 

“Oh yeah, you love puns and flirting. I dunno if you like the Chat Noir in your universe, but you're in love with Ladybug and moan to me about it constantly. It gets really annoying.” Wow this Kwami sure didn't hold anything back. 

“Oh god I can't believe this. I can't believe I like that stupid cat. I bet he's really smug about that.” Marinette moaned, falling back onto her bed with a huff. “How am I supposed to fight Miss Universe as Chat? I can't purify the akuma then and won't get sent back to my rightful place! I guess I just have to hope she doesn't show.”

“Is that the akuma that kicked you out of your own universe?” Plagg asked, floating next to the girl. 

“Yeah. She trapped me in a time loop where in each day repeat I get stuck in a different parallel world.” Marinette explained. 

“Gee that sucks kid. Oh well, it looks like you gotta spend the day with me. Speaking of which, can you get me some more cheese? You ran out last night.” Marinette gave the floating cat an annoyed glare.

“Do you only eat Camembert?” She asked.

“No, Camembert is my favorite though, but technically any type of cheese is good. Also you might wanna look at the time.” Marinette glanced to the clock, and just sighed when she saw she was late again.

“Am I just fated to always be late to school?” She moaned, covering her hands with her face. Reluctantly, she got up and got dressed, thankful that her clothing choice hadn't changed along with her sense of humor. When she was brushing her hair and applying her makeup, Marinette noticed her Miraculous earrings were missing. Instead, she only then noticed the weight of a silver ring on her finger. 

“Is this my Miraculous?” She asked Plagg as she scrutinized the new jewelry. 

“Yep! That's the black cat Miraculous of destruction, Ladybug as you know has the ladybug Miraculous of creation.” 

“So Ladybug has his ears pierced?” She asked, picturing Tikki wielding a needle. “Please tell me Tikki didn't stab the poor boy in the ears.” 

“I think you mentioned one time that when you asked him about it he said he was super glad he had already gotten them pierced when he received his Miraculous. Apparently Tikki had already been prepared to do it herself.” Plagg said with a laugh. 

“That sounds terrifying.” 

“It is, trust me she's had to do it before.” Marinette shuddered in sympathy for those poor Ladybugs of the past. She quickly finished getting ready and ran downstairs, running out the door as she tried to make it to school.

As she ran down the streets of Paris, shoving past people left and right, Marinette froze when she came across a poster of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

The first thing that caught her eye was herself. She had her hair loose from the pigtails, her midnight hair floating around her shoulders. Her eyes did the same odd thing Chat’s did, with the entire eyeball being the color blue instead of green. Her suit was identical to Chat’s, tail and all. A pair of leather cat ears adorned her head, paired with a bell on her neck. She had a shit-eating grin on her face, and it reminded herself so much of Chat it unnerved her.

Then Marinette took a look at Ladybug.

It was obviously the same person as her Chat Noir, that much she could tell. However, his blonde hair wasn't nearly as messy as it usually was, and his green eyes looked rather attractive since they weren't reminiscent of a cats. The red suit had some black panels along the sleeves, creating a more masculine look than her own, with black polka dots still dotting everywhere else. His smirk wasn't as mischievous as her own, instead radiating confidence and determination. 

Why did he have to look extremely attractive as Ladybug?

“Are you done gawking? You do remember you have a class to get to, right?” Plagg said from the inside of her purse, where he was snuggled up with a piece of cheddar cheese. 

“Oh, um, yeah. Sorry.” Marinette said, hurrying along. 

This time, Marinette didn't both with trying to make a quiet entry, instead just casually walking into the classroom. Madame Bustier turned around and gave her a look that was a mix of annoyance and resignation, and Marinette apologetically shrugged. She sat down next to Alya, who gave her a knowing grin.

“Late again I see?” She whispered. Marinette just smiled back sheepishly and nodded. As Madame Bustier droned on and on (it was the same lesson AGAIN, clearly this lesson plan was set in stone no matter the universe), Marinette looked around the classroom to se did anything was different than her reality.

Nothing seemed different at first. Chloe was filing her nails while Sabrina took notes, Nathanael drew in the back while Ivan listened to music, and Juleka and Rose were whispering to each other about something only they could hear. Turning forward, Marinette noticed nothing different with Nino, whom she was certain was asleep with his eyes open judging by his blank expression, and Alya was on her phone typing away as usual. 

And then she noticed something about Adrien.

Nothing about his behavior was off, he was taking notes dutifully (most likely planning to give them to Nino later), but there was something different about his appearance that Marinette couldn't seem to place…

It was his ears.

He had a pair of earrings in.

Why would he be wearing earrings in this universe?

If Marinette’s brain hadn’t been scrambled from realizing that she was Chat Noir, perhaps she would’ve made the painfully obvious connection as to why Adrien was wearing earrings.

But alas, traveling through universes really takes a lot out of a person, and so she did not.

Plagg just about screamed in frustration. 

Taking advantage of her prior knowledge of this lesson, Marinette used class time to research things about the ‘Ladybug and Chat Noir’ in this world. What she gathered was that Ladybug was still the more highly praised one of the duo, a few people gave him flack for still going by Ladybug despite being a male (even though male versions of the insect ladybugs do exist), and Chat Noir had actually a decently large following herself, and there were many speculations to her identity. Marinette then looked up the ‘Ladyblog’ and found that it did indeed still exist, though now it seemed Alya focused a bit more equally on the duo instead of just primarily focusing on Ladybug. She felt rather happy that things were more equal between them in this version of reality, as it had always bothered her when people ignored or insulted Chat in favor of Ladybug. 

Eventually, it was lunch time and Marinette wondered if she would have to endure the taste of frozen yogurt yet again.

Apparently the universe wasn’t letting her get a break from the sweet dairy product.

“Yo Alya, Mari, there’s this great frozen yogurt place that just opened down the street. Wanna go there for lunch?” Nino said, turning around to address both of them. 

“Sure.” The girls both agreed, Marinette knowing it would still be a good idea to be there if Miss Universe did happen to reappear even if she couldn’t purify the akuma herself. 

“Adrien, are you coming?” Marinette inquired, wanting to move the conversation along as quickly as possible. 

“Oh, um, yeah that’s sounds awesome.” He said, smiling sheepishly. “I just need to ask Nathalie, she makes my schedule.” He took out his phone and texted her quickly, and the three friends waited patiently.

“She said yes!” He exclaimed joyfully. Everyone cheered and hastily grabbed their bags, while Madame Bustier gave them a good-natured smile as they filed out. 

Walking down the streets of Paris, the gigantic posters of Ladybug and Chat Noir were almost impossible to ignore. Marinette normally had no problem with these giant posters, but she was having a rather difficult time keeping her eyes off of them. 

They strolled inside the colorful atmosphere of the froyo shop, the air filled with the scent of sugary goodness that reminded Marinette of her bakery. Although she was already tired of froyo, she got herself the flavor that sounded most appealing to her in that moment, which was coffee. She topped off the basic concoction with granola and quickly paid, sitting down next to Adrien. She was surprised to find that no blush rose on her face near his presence, and for some reason she wasn’t nervous whatsoever. 

Something weird was going on with this day (obviously besides the time loop situation because that was old news by now). 

“Who do you guys think would win in a fight? Ladybug or Chat Noir?” Alya asked the group, jolting Marinette out of her reverie. “I think we all know who I would bet on.” She said with a chuckle.

“Yes yes Alya, you the bonafide ultimate Ladybug fan would definitely bet on him winning against Chat Noir.” Nino said, exasperation in his tone. “I, personally, think that the girl might stand a chance. I mean she is pretty strong, considering all the times she’s knocked Ladybug out of the way of danger.” Marinette hid the smile that formed at Nino’s praise, feeling glad to know she had fans even as the other side of the coin.

“Traitor.” Alya shot at the DJ, giving him a joking glare. Then she cracked a grin and turned to the pigtailed girl at the other end of the table. “What about you Mari, who do you think would win?”

Although Marinette wanted to think about her answer, it seemed her mouth was having none of that because without thinking, she began spilling out her words in a vomit of confusion and praise for the Ladybug she had never met.

“Ladybug definitely. He’s super smart, especially when it comes to using the lucky charm on the spot. I mean, yeah Chat is strong but Ladybug would use his intelligence, therefore giving him the upper hand.” She said, only comprehending her words after they were out of her mouth. What the hell was that? She wondered. Next to her, Adrien let out a small cough and Marinette could’ve sworn she saw his cheeks turn pink.

“Knew you would think so, girly.” Alya said cheerfully. She turned to Nino and smirked at him, and then turned back around to the only one who hadn’t spoken on the subject. “So, Adrien, what do you think on this very important matter?” His eyes widened as the spotlight was turned onto him, and then he bit his lip as he pondered his answer.

“Well… if it was a normal fight, without any mind-controlling akumas or perfume…” He paused, wringing his fingers in thought. “I definitely think Chat Noir would win. No doubt.” Marinette let out a slight gasp but thankfully no one noticed, as the table was distracted by Alya’s shriek of indignation.

“Agreste! You were supposed to be the final nail in the coffin on this! C’mon, you gotta have my back man!” She complained, slamming her hands on the table, while Nino let out a cheer. Adrien just gave an apologetic shrug, a slight smile playing on the corners of his lips.

“Well I mean I’m just being honest. Yes Ladybug is smart, but Chat Noir is too of course, and Chat Noir is much braver than he is. She’s always jumping in front of him to protect him without thought of her own safety, and always keeps the akumas distracted so that he can think of how to defeat the villain.” Adrien said, confident in his reasoning. Marinette gaped at him, and when he turned and saw her staring, his cheeks flamed bright red. Marinette felt herself begin to blush as well, but only slightly. Did Adrien really think of her as Chat Noir as brave?

“Fine! I guess you have a point but I still think Ladybug would kick Chat’s ass. The real question though, is if they’re dating or not.” Alya said, a smirk gracing her lips. Adrien and Marinette both turned slightly pink at that, and both stayed quiet for the rest of the meal as Alya speculated to the state of the two superhero’s relationship.

After they finished eating, Marinette was disappointed to find that there was no akuma attack yet again and begrudgingly made her way back to school. The girl zoned out for the rest of the day, only snapping to attention when a teacher would call on her. Thankfully, Alya didn’t question Marinette’s distracted behavior, brushing it off as just a normal thing.

On her way home, she bought some Camembert for Plagg much to the swami’s delight. Upon reaching home, she opened the container and wrinkled her nose in disgust at the smell.

“God, how does Chat give this to you all the time and not constantly smell like stinky cheese?” Marinette asked the overjoyed floating cat. Plagg was currently zipping around her room, carrying a piece of the fancy cheese and attempting to ballroom dance with it. He paused at her question, and simply gave her a shrug.

“I dunno, I guess he showers a lot?” She frowned as he resumed his waltz.

“You’re not very helpful.” She grumbled.

“No I’m not!” He replied cheerfully, kissing the piece of Camembert before throwing it in the air and into his mouth. “Oh yeah, might’ve forgotten to mention you have patrol scheduled tonight.” Marinette gasped as she took a drink of water, flying into a coughing fit and Plagg immediately flew over and began patting her back sympathetically as she calmed down. Once she was able to breathe again, she turned and scowled at the kwami.

“How come you didn’t mention this sooner?!” She demanded, coughing again to clear her throat. Plagg just shrugged.

“I forgot.”

“What time?” She demanded, frowning at her companion.

“Nine I think.”

“You think?”

“Like I said, I’m not very helpful.” Marinette glared at him before sighing and leaning her head on her desk.

“How am I supposed to do patrol with him? If he and I are as close as we are in my universe, Ladybug’s definitely gonna know something’s up! I can’t pretend to be Chat Noir!” Marinette wailed, running her hands through her hair. Plagg considered this for a moment, before gently floating down in front of her.

“Well, this is a sucky situation.” He said.

“No shit.” She sullenly replied.

“Kid, I got two things to say to your worries. One, you’re not pretending to be Chat you ARE Chat Noir in this universe, so trust that you’ll do the right thing.” She sighed. “And also, if you’re worried Ladybug will suspect something’s off, why not just tell him?” Thankfully Marinette hadn’t been drinking water, or else she would have been sent into another choking fit at Plagg’s words.

“WHAT?!” Marinette shrieked. “You want me to tell my superhero partner, that I’m not actually the Chat Noir he knows? You want me to tell him that I’m an alternate universe’s version of his partner? Oh yeah, he’ll totally believe me. He’ll think I’ve gone insane!” Plagg frowned and crossed his tiny flipper arms.

“Marinette. Look. In your world, do you trust Chat Noir?” He asked. She didn’t have to think about the answer.

“Absolutely.”

“If he told you he got attacked by an akuma that had powers over space and time, and that he was actually from a different universe where he was Ladybug, would you believe him?” Marinette thought about it, picturing a scenario where she didn’t know what she now knew, and already knew the answer yet again.

“Yes I would.” She said without hesitation. Plagg grinned at her.

“Then why do you expect Ladybug to not believe you?” Plagg asked. Marinette bit her lip, realizing that he was right.

“Oh now you pull wisdom out of your ass?” She asked sarcastically. Plagg snorted in laughter.

“Don’t worry Mari, you’ll do just fine as Chat Noir.”

~

“So I just say, ‘transform me’ like I do as Ladybug?” Marinette asked the floating cat. The sun was setting over the Parisian sky, setting the horizon ablaze in an array of different colors streaking across the sky as if painted by an artist. The bright fiery light beamed into the girl’s room, giving everything an orange glow. She stood in front of her mirror, studying the silver ring on her finger. 

“Yep, it’s really not too complicated.” Plagg said snarkily, causing Marinette to chuck a pillow at the kwami which he dodged with ease. 

“Okay… well… here I go.” She took a deep breath. “Plagg, transform me!” Suddenly, a similar rush of energy went through her as when she turned into Ladybug, and a bright blue light bathed her entire body. Once the light faded, Marinette was staring at a stranger in the mirror. 

She looked exactly as she had on the poster, her hair now loose from its constricting pigtails with blue, cat-like eyes, along with wearing full leather. 

“I look like I need to be kink-shamed.” She said out loud to herself. Glancing to her hip, she saw a silver baton attached where her yoyo would normally be. Pulling it out, she saw instead of her Chat’s green paw, she had a blue paw instead. She also glanced to her ring, seeing it had turned black and had a light up blue paw on it. Although she knew how all this equipment worked, the girl couldn’t help but be intimidated by the unfamiliarity of all of it. 

Flipping open the device, she saw it was getting close to the meeting time Plagg had told her. Quickly sliding it shut, she hurriedly climbed out her window and clambered onto her roof, and began to leap her way to their meeting spot. 

As she jumped across the chasms between roofs in the setting sun, Marinette found she had even more agility as Chat than she did as Ladybug. She figured this was most likely to compensate for the fact that while Ladybug had a yoyo to travel around, Chat only had a baton therefore needing more strength for jumping. Unfortunately she still had no idea how to use the baton, and just hoped she wouldn’t need to. 

Chat Noir landed lightly on the now darkening rooftop, and saw that Ladybug had not arrived yet. Stepping towards the edge, she gazed out over the beautiful city of Paris and watched as the Eiffel Tower lit up in all its glory. Even in alternate worlds, Marinette always knew that Paris would be worth protecting, and she would do her hardest to make sure it remained one of the best cities in the world. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” She jumped at the voice behind her, whipping around to see a blonde boy with green eyes in a polka-dotted spandex suit staring at her with a smile. 

“Oh! Um, hi LB!” She stuttered, feeling extremely nervous now that her partner was here. “Yeah, it definitely is beautiful.” She managed to say, trying to calm her racing mind. 

“Sometimes, seeing the city like this… it reminds me why we do this, ya know? Yeah, it’s stressful and difficult to balance with school and stuff, but it’s all worth it.” Ladybug said, staring out towards the Tower. Marinette was once again reminded as to why her partner was just as much as a hero as her, if not more so, because he held the same drive and goals to protect Paris as she did even if he didn’t state it as much. 

“It really is…” Marinette replied, letting herself trail off. “It’s, um, good to see you tonight.” Marinette stammered out, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. Ladybug gave her a confused glance, before turning back to the skyline.

“Good to see you too Chat, did you spot any akumas on your way over?” He asked.

“If I had then we wouldn’t be standing here talking, would we, bugaboo?” She retorted immediately, the nickname slipping out like water down a river. Ladybug looked at her again, and then relaxed into a smile.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that.” He said good-naturedly. “So, is everything good in your civilian life?” Marinette reeled at the question, her head spinning to see if he meant that in a normal way or if he was suspicious.

“Um, oh, yeah definitely. Everything’s, like, great!” She stuttered, her heart beating rapidly. Now this reaction garnered Ladybug’s full attention. He turned to her and gave her a long stare.

“Is everything okay, Chat?” Her face blanched as her pulse skyrocketed, and she struggled to come up with a believable excuse.

“Yeah totally definitely like nothing’s wrong whatsoever, it’s just um like I dunno, just life I guess maybe kinda?” She winced at how obvious of a lie it was, and Ladybug narrowed his bright green eyes. Before Marinette could flee, Ladybug gently put his hands on her shoulders and stared deeply into her eyes, his gaze full of concern.

“Chat, you’re my best friend, I know you well enough to know that that was a full on lie. Tell me, what’s wrong?” He said gently. Marinette kept eye contact for several seconds, weighing her options in her head, before breaking it by looking to the ground.

“You’re not gonna believe me.” She mumbled.

“Of course I will! I’ll believe anything you tell me. I trust you.” He said earnestly.

“It’s pretty unbelievable.” Marinette muttered.

“Using magic, we fight people who have been possessed by evil butterflies everyday. Nothing is unbelievable to me now.” Marinette laughed a little at the blunt assessment of their lifestyles. Then she sighed, and looked back up.

“Do you believe in parallel universes?” Marinette asked. Ladybug looked taken aback by the question, and blinked in surprise.

“Uh, well, yeah I do.” He said, clearly confused as to what this had to do with their situation. “Why?"

“Because… um… I’m-I’m…” She struggled to get the words out, her cheeks turning bright red. “I’m not the Chat Noir you know!” She blurted out. Ladybug blinked before stepping back, away from her.

“Wait what?! You’re not Chat? What’d you do with my partner?!” He asked.

“No no no that came out wrong. I mean I’m still the same person, but I’m from an alternate universe!” Marinette finally said. Ladybug stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, waiting to see if she was joking, and when he saw she wasn’t he slowly walked back over.

“Please explain.” He pleaded. She sighed and sat down on the edge of the roof, patting the spot next to her. Ladybug hesitantly sat down, eyeing her warily.

“It’s… well… there was an akuma.” Marinette said. Ladybug nodded to indicate he was listening. “This akuma called herself Miss Universe. She said she had the power to transfer people to one of the many parallel universe’s that exist. You and I, we were battling the akuma, and I got hit with one of her blasts and everything went dark…” And so Marinette recounted the whole tale about her first day and then the absence of Miss Universe the first repeat day, all up to when she woke up the next morning in the short-hair universe and saw that it was the same day.

“You were stuck in a time loop.” Ladybug said, shock written all over his face. Marinette nodded.

“Yes, and not only that, I realized that each repeat I get sent to a different alternate universe where something is different. So I waited again and the akuma still never showed, and so then I repeated and now I’m here.” She finally finished. Ladybug stared at her in silence. Marinette squirmed under his gaze. “Do you believe me?” Ladybug bit his lip and looked towards the skyline.

“For some reason, even though that story is crazy, something in me is saying that you’re telling the truth.” He said. She breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders now that she had gotten to tell someone. “So what was different in this universe?” Her breathing hitched and she whipped her head around.

“Huh?!”

“You know, you said each day something is different. What was different today?” Ladybug asked. Marinette pondered if she should tell him the truth, and decided since she had already divulged this much it wouldn’t do any harm to reveal more.

“Well… in my universe… I’m Ladybug, and you’re Chat Noir.” She said with a chuckle. Ladybug immediately turned towards her.

“Are you serious?” She laughed at the shock on his face.

“Yeah I am, you wear the leather and everything.” Marinette said, smirking.

“Dang. So you know how to use the yoyo and everything?” He asked.

“Oh you bet.” She replied. He grinned, and unhooked the yoyo from his belt, holding it out to her.

“Show me. I’ll time you and then you can time me.” Marinette laughed at the challenge before her.

“You are so gonna get your ass kicked.” She said mischievously. Marinette took the yoyo, wrapping the string around her waist how Ladybug always had it. The weight of the toy was still the same, and so she waited on the edge of the roof with a confident grin.

“Okay! Get to the Eiffel Tower and back as quickly as you can!” Ladybug shouted.

“Easy peasy!”

“3,2,1…” Ladybug paused for dramatic effect. “Go!” And with that she was off, the air rushing through her loose hair as she became a bird on the wind, letting the utter freedom her yoyo gave her expand in her chest as joy filled every cell in her body. The lights of Paris glowed below her, and she flipped and twirled in the air above citizens unsuspecting heads. She made it to the Tower without trying, and did a loop around the base before speeding back to the rooftop. Once she landed, Ladybug was gaping at her.

“Holy crap. I definitely believe you now, there’s no way you could’ve gone that fast without practice.” He said. “It took me a couple tries to get used to the yoyo.” 

“Oh yeah, that thing was hard to get the hang of.” She said with a chuckle, recalling her first attempts at flying through the Parisian sky. 

“My turn now.” Ladybug said with a confident smirk. Reluctantly, Marinette handed him back the yoyo and she watched as he zoomed through the air with practiced ease. Red and black blurred, reflected by the soft lights of houses beneath his lithe body. Marinette was so distracted she forgot to count, and before she knew it the boy was gracefully landing next to her. 

“I forgot to count.” She blurted out sheepishly. He laughed and without thinking, she slipped an arm around his waist, the movement completely natural. Marinette stiffened immediately once she had realized what she had done, but Ladybug seemed used to the motion as he didn’t react, instead leading them to sit down on the edge of the roof yet again. 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t either.” Ladybug said with a grin. They sat in an amiable silence, Marinette feeling relieved that, even if temporarily, one person knew about her current plight. The warm air surrounded them, wrapping them in a blanket of their own infinity as they sat. Stars twinkled above their heads, falling through their own eternities on the grand scale that was time. 

“So what’s going to happen tomorrow? For me at least.” Ladybug asked, staring at the sparkling pinpricks of light above them. Marinette threw a surprised glance in his direction, biting her lip as she wondered the same thing herself.

“Honestly? I have no idea. I suppose the original Chat will just return and you’ll forget this ever happened.” She said simply. 

“So it’ll be like none of this ever happened?” He asked. 

“I think. I’ll be the only one who knows, if the fact that our kwami’s never remember is any indication of how powerful the time loop is.” Marinette said quietly, her voice carrying out into the night. Ladybug was silent for a moment, before responding.

“This… in my world, you, or rather, my Chat Noir, she, um, I think she likes me.” He stuttered, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks. “Is-is it the same for you? Do you like the Chat Noir, or um me I guess, of your world?” Marinette looked at him in surprise, her heart fluttering in surprise before sighing.

“In my world, Chat Noir also likes me as Ladybug I think. I don’t like him back though, there’s another boy I like at school.” She said, feeling as if she was lying even though she wasn’t. 

“That’s the same thing for me. This girl at school, I really like her. I mean I feel bad I don’t like Chat, she’s really courageous and awesome but this other girl… she’s amazing.” Ladybug said with a dreamy look in his eye. 

“Same for me and my crush.” Was all she said in reply. They were quiet for a moment, before without thinking their fingers found each other and interlocked as they took in each other's companionship. They spent the rest of the night amiably chatting about their different lives, until they both realized Miss Universe wasn’t going to show up. Before they parted, Ladybug hugged her tightly and Marinette buried her face in his chest, breathing in his scent before she knew she’d never meet this version of her best friend again. 

“Good luck with, well, everything.” Ladybug said, laughing. 

“Thanks I’ll try my best to get back. Keep Paris safe alright?” Marinette replied, tears welling up in her eyes. They stared at each other one moment longer before they leaped off, towards their respective homes. That night as Marinette settled into bed, Plagg nestled in next to her and whispered something in her ear.

“Stay safe in your next world, kid.” A small smile graced her face, and she turned to kiss the kwami on the head. 

“I will. Thanks Plagg.” She whispered back.

And then sleep claimed her exhausted mind and she entered into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'm not thrilled with how this ended really but I just needed to get this chapter out. But yeah, Marinette donned the leather cat ears and spilled the beans to her partner! I really wanted cute Plagg/Marinette interaction because I feel like they would be BFF's. Hope you guys liked this! Leave a comment if you enjoyed and don't forget to give me more suggestions for other AU's! Spread the word and tell your friends!! <3


	4. Genderbend AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette wakes up for the next day in her universe-hopping to find that something about herself is a little... off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys sorry for the wait! I tried to get this done sooner I really did but my mind was being a butt and wouldn't let me focus properly on this. Anyway now we're here so yay new chapter!!! This chapter was fun to write but I'll be honest, I am very glad I am finished with it. I started it five days ago and kept going back and changing certain parts I didn't like and urgh it was frustrating but now it's here! 
> 
> Also sorry if there are some grammar mistakes (there shouldn't be any but there might be) my beta reader still hasn't gotten the chance to go through this but I am an impatient little shit and decided to post it anyway. Also thanks a ton to my beta reader for letting me ask her questions or bounce ideas off of her all the time, she da real MVP. She just started her own collection of one-shots so go check her out at @jewel5189 here on ao3!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy, and make sure to check out the author's notes at the end because I have some questions for you guys as my readers :)

Marinette’s groggy mind slowly rose into consciousness as if she was coming up for air after being underwater for an unspecified amount of time. A small sigh escaped her lips, and the beeping of her alarm pounded against the walls of her mind. Without opening her heavy eyelids, she clumsily reached over and, after several failed attempts of slapping the wood of the shelf behind her bed, she finally hit the button and the incessant beeping stopped. Moaning at her exhaustion, she rolled over onto her side in an attempt to go back to sleep, but her eyes flew open at the movement. 

Something was off. Off about herself. 

Very off.

Her eyes flew open, and she shot up from her bed as if shocked with electric, bolting upright and looking around in a panic for Tikki. Tikki was there, sleeping on the pillow beside her, waking at the girl’s movement. Yawning, the kwami blearily blinked open her eyes to look at her charge, and Marinette locked eyes with her before Tikki gasped and flew towards her. 

“Oh no! Mari-” 

“Don’t worry I know I’m in the wrong universe, I just-” Marinette stopped speaking, something about her words, or rather her voice, not sounding right to her own ears. Her voice sounded… deeper. Less high-pitched and not as bell-like as her usual voice. 

“Oh okay good, at least I won’t have to explain that to you. Can you tell me what happened?” Tikki said, floating near her face. Marinette sighed and recounted the story again, still unsure as to what was different this time but suspecting it had to do with the change in her voice. Finally, after all was said, Tikki looked at her expectantly. 

“So do you know what’s different this time?” She asked. Marinette shook her head.

“Not really, but, my voice sounds different for some reason. Deeper than it normally is. Can that be a reason?” 

“I don’t know, maybe. This hasn’t happened before to my knowledge Marin so really it’s all up to-”

“What did you just call me?” Marinette asked, interrupting the kwami. Tikki stared at her oddly.

“Marin? That’s your name?” 

“No Marin’s not my name! My name’s Marinette!” Marinette said, panic beginning to rise within her. Tikki’s eyes widened, and she floated slightly away from her charge. 

“Oh no this isn’t good.” Tikki said quietly, looking at Marinette with an extreme amount of worry. “Um, Marin-I mean Marinette, by any chance are you a girl in your world?” Marinette just nodded, feeling frozen in place. “Um. Well. I think we found what the difference was!” Tikki said with forced cheerfulness. 

“Y-y-you don’t mean…” Marinette trailed off, and immediately she looked down at her body. Instead of her usual pink and white pajamas she was wearing a white shirt with red pajama pants. Besides that she couldn’t see much difference while sitting on her bed, except for something, or rather two things, on her chest that were suspiciously absent. Her hands flew to her chest, and she began patting herself up and down. “WHERE ARE MY BOOBS?!” She screeched. Before Tikki could respond, Marinette jumped off her bed (falling over onto the ground of course) and picked herself up while muttering some curse words as she rushed towards the mirror. 

Standing in front of her, was a familiar looking stranger. Marinette’s blue-black hair was cut short, looking almost identical to when she was in the short-hair universe. Her eyes were still big and blue, but her jaw was noticeably more square and she had a more defined bone structure along her face. The Miraculous were still in her ears, looking just as normal as ever. At least that was the same. Her shoulders were broader, her chest flat as she had noticed before, and there was no noticeable curves to her hips. There was no denying it.

Marinette was a guy. 

“OH MY GOD!” She screeched, reeling backwards from the mirror and tripping over her own couch. She fell backwards onto the plush surface, and didn’t even try to get up as she attempted to reel in her racing thoughts. “Oh god Tikki what am I gonna do? I can’t go to school like this! How am I supposed to talk to Alya and Nino and Adri-” She stopped, bolting upright again to a normal sitting position on her couch. “Oh no! If I’m a guy then there’s no way Adrien can like me! Unless he’s bi or gay but I don’t know if he is or not and it’s probably not likely and even then his father probably wouldn’t approve-” She stopped as Tikki interrupted her. 

“MARINETTE!” She shouted at the panicking girl, or rather, temporary boy. “Calm down! First off, you need to go to school in case that akuma comes back. Second off, I guess it’s not the same in your world but in this world Adrienne is a girl and has always been a girl so you don’t need to freak out about that.” Marinette stopped her internal screaming at that, and gazed at the kwami with wide and panicked eyes. 

“He’s a girl?” She asked, her deeper voice small. Tikki nodded slowly and turned around, pointing to the walls. 

Instead of her many posters of Adrien Agreste adorning her room, there were many torn out magazine pages of a familiar-looking girl who Marinette could only presume to be Adrien’s female counterpart. The girl had very long, thick, curly hair that shone like precious gold and went all the way down to her lower back. Her eyes were peridot green, shining bright like precious gemstones. Clearly he, or rather she in this universe, was still a model, and a very good one at that. 

“So Adrien’s a girl? Is everyone in this universe the opposite gender?” Marinette moaned to the ceiling. Tikki flew over in front of her face.

“That might be the case. Why don’t you tell me the name of your parents and classmates and I’ll tell you if it’s switched or not? I think it’d be good to avoid surprises today.” Tikki said, sage like wisdom radiating from her small body. Marinette took a deep breath to calm herself. 

“Okay. Yeah. That’s smart.” She took another deep breath and prepared to go through her checklist. “My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, obviously that’s not true anymore. My parent’s Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng own the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. Alya Cesaire is my best friend, I have a crush on Adrien Agreste, and I hate Chloe Bourgeois, is that all still true?” Tikki gave her an odd and perplexed look.

“I think our theory about everyone having their genders switched was right, because I don’t know any of those names.” Marinette sighed at the words, running her fingers through her hair. Tikki gave her cheek an affectionate pat. “Here, let me fill you in. Your name is Marin Dupain-Cheng, your parents are Tori Dupain and Sabin Cheng who own the Tori and Sabin Boulangerie Patisserie. Your best friend is Alan Cesaire and you hate Clovis Bourgeois and have a crush on Adrienne Agreste.” Tikki said. 

“God what am I supposed to do?! I don’t know these people! I’m gonna mess up someone’s name I know it!” Marinette bemoaned to the sky, feeling as if she was drowning in a sea of worry. 

“It’s fine Marin-sorry, I mean Marinette. I’ll just whisper everyone’s names to you as you see them. Just hide me in your blazer instead of your school bag.” Tikki suggested calmly. Marinette slowed her hurried breathing, waiting as her erratic heartbeat calmed to a normal level before speaking again. 

“Okay. Okay. That sounds like a good plan. I can do this. I can totally do this. I just have to pretend to be a boy for one day, just one day! How hard can it be? It’s still me right?” She said, trying to inject some false exuberance into her tone as she plastered a false smile across her countenance. Tikki feigned ignorance to the obvious lies.

“Yes, you can definitely do this! And you’re gonna need to do it soon, because you’re gonna be late for school if you don’t get moving.” The kwami stated, pointing to the time on her clock. 

“Oh crap!” Marinette leapt up and raced to her closet, staring blankly at the hanging garments before turning back to Tikki. “Tikki what do I wear to school?!” Tikki just sighed and flew over to wear a blazer, shirt, and jeans were already laid out on top of her vanity chair. 

“Your clothes are right here.” Tikki said dryly. Marinette blushed at her blunder before hastily grabbing the items, and hastily began to change. She avoided looking at her bare chest as best she could, feeling as if she was somehow violating Marin’s privacy although it was technically still herself. Once she had pulled on the clothing, she checked herself in the mirror one last time. 

Marinette, or rather Marin’s raiment of the day was a white t-shirt with a grey blazer over top, paired with a casual pair of dusty pink jeans and white sneakers. Hastily, she ran a brush through her short tresses and double checked to make sure nothing was out of place on her personage. 

“You look fine c’mon we gotta go!” The kwami scolded her. Blushing again, Marinette grabbed her grey and white backpack and flew down the stairs, rushing into the bakery where her mother, or rather her father in this world, was waiting with a warm croissant in hand. Marinette stopped in her tracks, trying not to gape at the male version of her mother. 

Sabin looked mostly like Sabine, except he had shorter blue-black hair and was wearing a shirt version of the dress that was her mother’s everyday attire. Marin towered over his father, and Marinette leaned down to give her father a kiss on the cheek and was relieved to see it garnered no peculiar reaction. 

“Have a good day at school chérie!” Her father said with a kind smile. Marinette just smiled in return and nodded, taking the croissant in hand, before running out the door at full speed. 

Marinette hadn’t noticed while she was alone, but Marin was actually quite tall, probably near or at Adrien’s height. This boost helped her move through the crowd of Parisians much quicker than she normally would, as people let her pass through instead of making her shove past them, and she arrived at the school within a few minutes. Panting, Marinette raced to her classroom and landed in her seat with a minute to spare. Glancing beside her, Marinette almost jumped when she saw a strange boy seated next to her in Alya’s place, but quickly realized it was simply her genderbent self. 

“That’s Alan!” Tikki whispered discreetly from Marinette’s blazer. She nodded, and looked over this version of her best friend. Alan had messy, reddish-brown hair that had just the slightest hint of wave to it that was pulled into a bun on the back of his head. He had bronze skin and hazel eyes set behind the same glasses Alya wore, and he had a distinctive mole right above his left eyebrow. He was wearing an orange flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, paired with blue jeans and black and white sneakers. He was giving Marinette a confused look. 

“Hey, Marin, you okay bud?” He asked her, bringing Marinette back to reality. She blinked, snapping back to attention like a stretched rubber band. 

“Huh? Oh yeah totally, definitely fine nothing out of the ordinary here, nope no siree.” She stuttered nervously, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck. Alan didn’t seem convinced. 

“Um… okay then. Nina here was just asking if we wanted to go get frozen yogurt for lunch, does that sound fun to you?” Marinette was getting very sick of frozen yogurt at this point. 

“Sure, sounds fun.” She said, attempting but failing to put enthusiasm into her voice. Alan grinned and turned forward, and began talking to a girl it took a few seconds to recognize, before realizing it was undoubtedly Nino. 

“Sweet! Did you hear that Adrienne? Marin said he could go, so now you gotta come!” The girl said. Nina looked almost identical to Nino, except she had long dark brown hair cut into a bob. Otherwise she was completely identical to her male self, just more feminine. 

“I want to come, believe me, but I’m not sure if my mother or Nathan will let me.” Another female voice said. Marinette immediately whipped her head towards the sound, and felt as if she were staring at the sun. 

Adrienne was sitting in front of Marin, staring down worriedly at her cell phone. Her long golden hair was just as thick and curly as it appeared in the magazine photos, shining like silk in the harsh classroom lights. Her raiment was the same as Adrien’s, with the same white, short-sleeved, open button up shirt with a black t-shirt underneath and skinny jeans that hugged every curve perfectly. She had a healthy tan and a light dusting of pink across her cheeks, her green eyes glittering like crystals. She appeared like a radiant goddess contrast to the drab classroom. 

In that moment, Marinette began to seriously question her heterosexuality.

Then Nina spoke, saving Marinette from her internal dilemma.

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask, right?” Adrienne bit her lip, and ran her fingers through her voluminous curls. 

“I guess not. I mean the worst she can do is say no.” She said with a sigh. Rapidly she sent what seemed to be a long message and quickly hit send, before putting her phone on her desk to wait for a response. Just then, the bell rang shrilly over their heads and the teacher walked in. 

Apparently Madame Bustier was now Mr. Bustier, as evidenced by the short red hair and the white suit with a teal tie he wore. Alan kept his phone on under his desk and Marinette saw Adrienne do the same, awaiting a response to her inquiry. 

The lecture was still the same as before, much to Marinette’s annoyance, so as per usual she didn’t pay attention and simply let her gaze wander over her classmates, scrutinizing the differences between these genderbent versions and their originals. 

Chloe’s male self, whom Tikki informed her was named Clovis, was tapping away on his phone and not bothering to pay attention to the lesson whatsoever. While he was doing so, the male version of Sabrina, whom Tikki said was named Sebastian, was frantically scribbling notes next to the blonde, obviously still doing the homework for both of them. Marinette felt sympathetic for the red-head, recalling how she had almost gained her independence from the dictatorship that is a friendship with Chloe, before falling back under the influence of her regime. 

Okay maybe Marinette was being a little dramatic, but Chloe was still a horrible friend. 

Satisfied with her investigations, Marinette proceeded to zone out for the rest of the period, utterly transfixed by Adrienne’s gorgeous blonde hair.

After an eternity trapped within a set amount of minutes the bell rang and it was time to go to lunch. They all got up and left the room, and began walking down towards the shop. As they strolled, Marinette couldn’t help but continue to steal glances at the gorgeous blonde walking beside her, wondering how it was that Adrien looked amazingly attractive as both a guy and a girl. Tearing her eyes off the literal goddess besides her, Marinette forced herself to look for any other differences within her beloved city. Lo and behold, her gaze immediately fell on a giant billboard of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marinette stopped in her tracks, gaping at the figures in front of her. 

Marin was wearing a similar Ladybug suit as Chat Noir had in the previous universe, with the black paneling along the sleeves to give it a more masculine look. His muscles were well-defined by the suit, and appeared very strong and confident in his power. But what really caught Marinette’s eye, was the blown-up image of her partner. 

Chat Noir still had the same tight leather suit, and it hugged every curve on her body much like Marinette’s own Ladybug suit did. Her gold hair was as wild as ever, filled with crazy curls that framed her face perfectly. The sclera of her eye was still entirely green, and they sparkled with mischief. She had a small button nose and lips drawn in a smirk. 

Like Adrienne, Chat Noir was making Marinette question her heterosexuality as well. 

Well, if anything came of this wild day, Marinette could say she learned a lot about herself. 

“Marin, are you okay?” Adrienne’s voice cut through her thoughts like a hot knife through butter, and her mouth immediately became dry as she fumbled for her words. 

“Um, yeah, totally, duh, like, I’m fine, um, definitely yeah.” She stammered, blushing fiercely. Adrienne gazed at her with a worried look in her piercing green eyes, before turning and seeing the poster Marinette had been gaping at. Her concerned look turned into one of amusement, and she walked closer to her, leaving Alan and Nina to go ahead.

“Ladybug sure is amazing, isn't he?” She said with a dreamy look in her eye, gazing fondly at the spotted hero. That made Marin’s already scarlet cheeks turn an even darker shade more akin to crimson.

“Y-yeah, um, definitely. But, like, Chat’s cool too ya know?” Marinette managed to stutter. Adrienne immediately whipped her head towards Marin, her eyes wide with surprise as a faint blush rose to her own cheeks.

“Really? You like Chat Noir?” She asked. 

“Yeah she’s always saving Ladybug from danger and taking the hits for him, so I’d say she's really brave.” Marinette said more calmly, finding it easier to discuss her partner. Then, as she looked at Adrienne’s utter shock, she felt herself get embarrassed again fearing she said something wrong. “But, I mean, you're like way cooler than her, like, um, yeah ya know?” Oh god she was just making it worse. Adrienne stared at her in shock a moment longer, before grinning and looping her arm through Marin’s. 

“Thanks Marin, I'm sure Chat would love to hear she has a fan. C’mon let's catch up to Alan and Nina.” She said while beaming, pulling Marinette along through the street. It took all of her concentration not to shatter into a million different pieces, blowing herself across the entire distance of the Milky Way galaxy just at her crush’s mere touch. 

They strolled down the street, quickly catching up to where Alan and Nina were deeply discussing the specifics of demon summoning. 

“I think Ladybug and Chat Noir would totally save me if I accidentally summoned a demon from Hell!” Nina was exclaiming loudly, causing the passerbys to stare oddly at her. Adrienne extricated her arm from Marin’s, and caught up to Nina.

“Okay, why on earth would you be summoning a demon?” She demanded. 

“To make a contract so I can make the sickest beats ever and become a legend!” Nina said dramatically. Everyone laughed but before the discussion could continue, a high pitched scream shattered the mood of joy. The four kids heads whipped towards the source, as Marinette’s heart began to pound as she prepared for the appearance of Miss Universe. This was it! She could go home finally! 

But, as the cruel and twisted hands of fate would have it, the akuma wasn’t Miss Universe as the girl had been expecting. 

A giant of a man was walking through the streets, his imposing form shoving through civilians that didn’t get out of his way in time. He was at least 8 ft (244 cm) tall, had a thick silver beard, well-defined muscles, and glittering eyes that looked like the reflection of a flame. Instead of a flesh and bone right arm though, he had a completely iron metal arm that moved just like a normal one, and glowed orange like a hot ember. In the metal arm, he had a large hammer, with which he began to shoot out deadly sharp swords and daggers at innocent bystanders. Everyone was screaming. 

“Oh c’mon!” Marinette cursed under her breath. 

“I AM HEPHAESTUS, AND I’LL SHOW THE WORLD I CAN STILL DO MY JOB!” The akuma yelled out in a strident voice. The akuma turned to face them, and Marinette was spurred into action.

“Guys we gotta run! Follow me!” Marinette yelled, grabbing Adrienne by the hand. After stumbling once, Adrienne was able to keep up with ease while Alan and Nina followed closely behind. Marinette dodged in between panicking Parisians, and found her way to the froyo shop with ease. She held open the door, seeing that the workers were huddled behind the counter, and ushered for her friends to duck down and keep away from the windows. 

“Stay here and don’t come out until the attack is over!” She commanded. 

“Marin no! You could get hurt out there!” Adrienne protested, grabbing her wrist as she went to leave the store. Marinette felt Marin’s cheeks heating up again, and cursed that her male counterpart was as prone to blushing as she was. 

“I have to get others to safety!” Marinette declared, wrenching her wrist out of Adrienne’s grasp. Then she ran, ran away as fast as she could with her heart beating in her ears as she ducked into the nearest alleyway she saw. Tikki emerged from her jacket as soon as they were out of sight, and Marinette took a minute to catch her breath. 

“Tikki...we...gotta...transform!” Marinette said between gasps. 

“Okay Marinette, do you think you can handle being Ladybug as a boy?” Tikki asked with concern. 

“Of course I can!” She said. “I still have the lucky charm and the Miraculous Cure right?” Tikki nodded. “Then it should be no different than usual. Tikki, transform me!” At the words, Tikki zoomed towards the earrings Marin donned, and Marinette was bathed in the familiar bright pink light of the Miraculous. She hadn’t transformed into Ladybug since this whole universe-traveling mess had started, so it felt good to be her superhero persona again, even if it was as a different gender. 

Breathing a sigh of joy as the light faded away, Ladybug took out her yoyo and hastily swung it towards the ledge of the building, shooting up onto the roofs of Paris. A quick look around revealed Chat hadn’t showed up yet, and she felt relieved. She wasn’t sure how she should act around her partner, unsure if this Chat Noir still held the same love for Ladybug as the male Chat did. She suspected it would be the same flirting and puns as per usual, but through this whole situation Marinette had learned not to assume anything anymore. 

Running, Ladybug caught up on the roofs to where Hephaestus was rampaging through the streets. The man was launching gleaming silver swords at everyone near, and glass shattered as the metal shot through windows. The screams of the innocent filled Ladybug’s ears, and she knew she had to do something fast, at least to give the rest of the civilians more time to escape. 

“Hey! Over here!” She called out. Hephaestus whipped his head towards her, the man’s unnerving amber eyes narrowing as his lips broke out into a smirk. 

“Ah, Ladybug, just the boy I’ve been wanting to see. You have something I need to take from you. Where’s your cat friend at?” Hephaestus asked. Before Ladybug could answer, a loud voice shouted from across the street.

“Winry’s automail was ten times better than your metal arm you big oaf!” In a blur of black leather and gold curls, Chat leaped on top of the akuma with a wild shout. Hephaestus howled, and quickly got a hold of the wriggling girl and chucked her towards Ladybug on the roof. Ladybug shot out her yoyo, and Chat grabbed the lifeline just in time and Ladybug hoisted her up beside her. 

“Thanks for the save my lord.” Chat said with a dramatic bow, once she had sorted herself out. Ladybug rolled her eyes. 

“What the hell was that?!” She demanded angrily. Chat winced at her reaction, before looking at the ground in shame. 

“I just wanted to catch the akuma by surprise.” She mumbled. Ladybug instantly felt bad for yelling at the girl, knowing her own Chat Noir would’ve done the same thing. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. You just could’ve been hurt is all, you should’ve just come to where I was so we could’ve made a plan.” Ladybug said gently. Chat glanced up in surprise, her dour mood instantly brightening. 

“Oh… you were worried about me getting hurt, ehhhh?” Chat said, her sad expression changing to a mischievous smirk. Ladybug had to fight the urge to roll her eyes yet again. Before she could respond though, she saw a giant hammer hurtling towards them from the corner of her eye, and Chat tackled her to the ground just in time for it to go whizzing above their heads. 

“GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUS!” Hephaestus demanded in a booming voice. 

“Thanks for that. Okay, where do you think the akuma is hidden?” Ladybug asked Chat who was staring down at her with wide-eyes. 

“Um, it seems like his hammer is a good bet since all his swords and stuff comes from it.” Chat guess, glancing towards the akuma in question. Ladybug flipped over onto her stomach from underneath the blonde, and narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized the shining weapon in the large man’s hand. 

“I think that’s a good bet. Okay, here’s the plan.” And Ladybug proceeded to whisper her hastily formed plan into Chat’s ear. Chat nodded, and smirked as she leaped down from the building in front of the akuma. 

“Hey, I can see why your called Hephaestus!” Chat called out. 

“And why is that little kitty cat?” He asked in a gruff voice. 

“Because the Greek God Hephaestus was supposed to be really ugly, and you ain’t too good lookin bro.” She said casually. In the distance, Ladybug faintly heard someone that sounded like Alan go ‘Oooooooooooooooo you’re gonna need some ice for that burn!’. Hephaestus shrieked in rage, and began to unleash a fury of swords and daggers upon Chat’s lithe form. Ladybug gasped, and watched with poorly disguised terror as Chat leaped and backflipped in between all the blades with ease. Then, remembering she had to utilize this moment of distraction, Ladybug leaped down to the ground and quickly called upon her lucky charm. Much to her confusion, a large red and black polka-dotted bucket of water dropped into her hands. 

“Okay now what the hell am I supposed to do with this?” She muttered to herself. 

“Um, LB, if you could kinda hurry that’d be nice!” Chat called out from where she was still attempting to dodge the barrage of attacks. Ladybug glanced around, attempting to find what she was supposed to use this object on. Then her gaze fell on the glowing metal of Hephaestus’s arm. 

“Wait… if it’s glowing that means it’s hot which is why he can move it right? When you cool metal down…” She mumbled to herself, attempting to sort out her own thoughts. “I GOT IT!” Shifting the bucket to one hand, Ladybug grabbed her yoyo and wrapped it around a nearby pipe, and swung over top of the akuma. Soaring through the sky while the wind rushed through her short hair, Ladybug turned in a full circle before she finally let go of the yoyo and was free falling right above the the akuma. Turning the bucket over, she let the cold water completely soak the angry man beneath her and it hit the metal with a loud hiss. Hephaestus screeched as the metal turned from superheated orange back to a dull silver, and was no longer moveable. 

“HOW DARE YOU?!” He shouted at her as she landed on the ground next to him. Before she could respond, Chat already had grabbed the hammer out of the frozen metal, and vaulted towards Ladybug on her staff. She handed the weapon to her partner, and Ladybug smashed it on the ground, and grinned as the small black butterfly popped out of the crushed stone and metal. Taking out her yoyo, she swung with all her might and caught the evil creature with ease, and within seconds the yoyo opened to reveal a snow white butterfly flutter away.

“Bye bye little butterfly!” Marinette said cheerfully. Grabbing the discarded bucket, she couldn’t help but beam as she launched it into the air with a triumphant call of “Miraculous Ladybug!” and watched as it disappeared and a swarm of ladybugs flew all around, fixing all the damage Hephaestus caused. Then, Ladybug and Chat Noir strolled over to where Hephaestus was still kneeling, and watched as a cloud of black engulfed him only to leave an older man with a prosthetic arm in his place. 

“W-what happened?” He asked, looking around in confusion before his gaze fell on the two superheroes. “Oh-oh god, I was akumatized wasn’t I?” He asked, shame filling his expression before he looked at the ground. Ladybug sighed and put her hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at her with worry. “I’m really sorry Ladybug, I was just-”

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” She reassured him. 

“I-I was just so upset because I found out I couldn’t be a blacksmith anymore because of my stupid injury!” He said, glancing at the prosthetic arm with disdain. Ladybug kneeled down in front of him. 

“I know it must be hard finding out that you can’t do the thing you love anymore, and I’m really sorry, but maybe you can find some alternate way to continue being a blacksmith? You just have to keep trying, and you’ll find a way.” As she said those words, her earrings did their telltale beep signaling it was her time to leave. Standing up, she gave the man a smile. 

“Thank you Ladybug, I think I’ll follow your advice. If there’s a way for me to continue my job, I’ll do it.” The man said resolutely. Chat strolled beside her, and placed her hand on Ladybug’s shoulder. 

“You did great Chat.” Ladybug told her partner. She blushed at her praise. 

“Thanks LB, I don’t think I even need to tell you that you were amazing.” She said kindly. Ladybug gave her a smile, before her earrings beeped again. 

“I gotta go, see ya later Chat!” Chat waved and disappeared as well, and Ladybug yoyoed away until she found the same alley she had transformed in. Just as she fell, she was bathed in a pink light yet again as her transformation released and Tikki fell into her outstretched hands. 

“You did great Marinette!” Tikki praised her. 

“Thanks Tikki, it felt good to be Ladybug again even if it had to be as a boy.” Marinette said, smoothing her hair as she gently put Tikki back into her blazer. Then she remembered something she had been meaning to ask the kwami. “Wait. Why didn’t the Miraculous Cure put me back in my own universe?” Tikki poked her small red head out of Marinette’s collar. 

“Well, that’s because the Miraculous Cure only fixes the damage done by that specific villain. If you want to get back to your own universe then you have to use the Miraculous Cure after defeating Miss Universe.” Tikki explained. Marinette sighed, resigning herself to another day without Miss Universe, before heading back to the frozen yogurt shop. 

“Marin!” Alan shouted as soon as he spotted his friend, running towards her and grabbing her in a tight hug while Nina followed behind. “Where did you go?! Me and Nina and Adrienne were all freaking out when you didn’t come back that Adrienne went looking for you!” 

“She what?!” Marinette gasped, tearing herself away, desperate to find the person she had a crush on. Thankfully, her panicked search didn’t last long because she quickly spotted a head of blonde curls bouncing towards the group. 

“Oh thank god you’re okay Marin!” Adrienne said as she arrived, still slightly out of breath from running. 

“Adrienne! Why would you do that? You had me and Alan worried sick about you and this idiot!” Nina said, pointing to Marinette. Adrienne turned her shocking peridot eyes to Marinette.

“I couldn’t find you and it was too dangerous to come back to the froyo shop so I just started helping people get inside buildings quicker.” Adrienne explained hastily. Everyone nodded except the still frightened Marinette.

“You could’ve been hurt!” Marinette protested. 

“Well so could you!” Adrienne shot back. Marinette blushed and looked away, realizing she was correct. In the minds of her friends, she had done a very stupid thing, even if she had actually been saving the city from an angry blacksmith. 

“Okay, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left.” Marinette apologized, scratching the back of her neck.

“Okay. I’m sorry also, I shouldn’t have left either.” Adrienne said as well. Nina and Alan nodded, and they all shared a quick group hug. Then they separated, and Alan immediately pulled out his phone. 

“Guys I got such good footage of Ladybug, even if I was in the froyo shop.” Alan said as he prepared a new post for the Ladyblog. Nina sighed before turning to Marinette.

“It was everything I could do to keep him from running out into the street!” Nina complained. Marinette laughed. 

“Yeah, believe me, I know that Alan can be frustrating with that.” She said with a chuckle. They all laughed when Alan got a text and gasped.

“Oh it’s time to head back to school, c’mon guys we’re gonna be late!” Everyone gasped and they all ran back to the school at top speed, knowing that akuma attacks had become so common that it was no longer an excuse to cancel school. 

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, and that evening Marinette spent most of her time perusing the Ladyblog and watching the footage of that day’s earlier akuma attack. Dinner with her parents was awkward, but Marinette managed to avoid suspicion by divulging all information about the akuma. Tikki was very distressed about her charge’s intake of liquid, since Marinette refused to drink anything all day lest she get the need to pee. But otherwise everything was completely fine for the rest of the night. 

She got tired fairly early, probably from having to battle a super villain, and Tikki rested on the pillow next to her as she turned off her lights. But before Marinette succumbed to the unconsciousness that tempted her fatigued mind so dearly, Tikki whispered something to her. 

“Good luck Marinette.” She heard the high-pitched voice breathe. Marinette smiled and kissed the kwami on the forehead. 

“Thanks Tikki. See you in the next universe.” 

“See you soon.” And with those parting words, Marinette let herself be pulled down into the dark abyss of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY THAT WAS FUN! Woo it feels like such a relief finally posting this, I've been worried about getting this damn chapter finished for days. Now I said there'd be questions and indeed there are. 
> 
> Firstly, please comment below telling me if you have or haven't seen the anime Ouran High School Host Club
> 
> Secondly, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me how you guys would feel about their being a Daredevil/Blind!Adrien au as one of the chapters because I found a blind!Adrien au on tumblr and am interested in potentially writing it but not if anyone would be uncomfortable or dislike it (I promise wouldn't romanticize disability or any of that bullshit rather focus on the fact that like Toph Beifong and/or Matt Murdock Adrien's supposed blindness in this au would make him stronger etc...) 
> 
> Thanks a ton guys and I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to leave me au suggestions below!
> 
> My tumblr: themiraculoustrashcan.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr: themiraculoustrashcan.tumblr.com
> 
> Go ahead and message me! Also don't forget to leave a comment below if you enjoyed! I love knowing that people are enjoying my work! And don't forget to leave suggestions for au's for Marinette to fall into :D


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